Ah, yes! very well! So _good morals_ would teach; But _facts_ are the _most_ stubborn things in existence, And _they_ tend to show that _great_ lies win respect, And hold their position with wondrous persistence. The _small_ lies, the _white_ lies, the lies _feebly told_, The world will condemn both in spirit and letter; But the _great, bloated_ lies will be held in respect, And the _larger_ and _older_ a lie is, the better. A respectable lie, from a _popular_ man, On a _popular_ theme, never taxes endurance; And the pure, golden coin of _un_popular _truth_, Is often _refused_ for the _brass of assurance_. You may dare all the laws of the land to defy, And bear to the truth the most shameless relation, But never attack _a respectable lie_, If you value a name, or a good reputation. A lie well established, and hoary with age, Resists the assaults of the boldest seceder; While he is accounted the greatest of saints, Who silences reason and follows the leader. Whenever a mortal has _dared_ to be wise, And seize upon Truth, as the soul’s “Magna Charta,” He always has won from the lovers of lies, The name of a fool, or the fate of a martyr. There are popular lies, and political lies, And “lies that stick fast between buying and selling,” And lies of politeness--conventional lies-- (Which scarcely are reckoned as such in the telling.) There are lies of sheer malice, and slanderous lies, From those who delight to peck filth like a pigeon; But the _oldest_ and far _most respectable_ lies, Are those that are told in the name of Religion. Theology sits like a tyrant enthroned, A system _per se_ with a fixed nomenclature, Derived from strange doctrines, and dogmas, and creeds, At war with man’s reason, with God and with Nature; And he who subscribes to the popular faith, Never questions the fact of divine inspiration, But holds to the Bible as absolute truth, From Genesis through to St. John’s Revelation. We mock at the Catholic bigots at Rome, Who strive with their dogmas man’s reason to fetter; But we turn to the Protestant bigots at home, And we find that their dogmas are scarce a whit better. We are called to believe in the wrath of the Lord-- In endless damnation, and torments infernal; While around and above us, the Infinite Truth, Scarce heeded or heard, speaks sublime and eternal. It is sad--but the day-star is shining on high, And Science comes in with her conquering legions; And ev’ry respectable, time-honored lie, Will fly from her face to the mythical regions. The soul shall no longer with terror behold The red waves of wrath that leap up to engulf her, For Science ignores the existence of hell, And chemistry finds better uses for sulphur.